Domaine Michel Lafarge

[Cloth Ears]

I'm afraid I'm not much up on French still wines (and barely experienced in the bubbly side). So I have no idea what to make of a wine that was given to us on the weekend - a 2005 "Volnay Les Caillerets". From what little I've been able to gather, the maker is well respected, but I don't even know what the wine is made of. This is a stock photo I found:

Any assistance would be great. I'm sure Mrs CE and I will need no help in consuming it, however...

[tonym]

That's a Pinot noir from a premier cru vineyard ( Lafarge is a well respected producer in Burgundy) and I would think it would be approx worth $100. Probably a good idea to drink it sooner rather than put it away.

[n4sir]

2005 was a brilliant year for red Burgundy in general, depending on how it was cellared prior to you getting it I don't think you should be in any huge hurry to drink this. There are a lot of later vintages I would drink well before the 2005s.

That said, I guess it just depends on just how young/old you like your Pinot?

[n4sir]

Cellartracker is your friend - reviews there seem to suggest there is no hurry either:

http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1383295

[Cloth Ears]

As I used to like my Pinot older - but then found some being aimed more at the drink now market - so I haven't kept any for a while. I think I can probably sit on this for a few years.

[Hacker]

Lafarge is known for slow maturing wines. If possible I would bury it for up to a decade. 2005 is also a well structured year resulting in wines (generally) that evolve more slowly than in other years.

[rossmckay]

Looks like that person who gave you that likes you very much.

Jancis Robinson said in part 18.5 (very high for her) Drink 2016-28. Great stuff.

intense and brooding on the nose. Top note of spice, extremely fine tannins underneath. Very classy with a chalky finish.

[rooman]

I'm afraid I'm not much up on French still wines (and barely experienced in the bubbly side). So I have no idea what to make of a wine that was given to us on the weekend - a 2005 "Volnay Les Caillerets". From what little I've been able to gather, the maker is well respected, but I don't even know what the wine is made of.
Any assistance would be great. I'm sure Mrs CE and I will need no help in consuming it, however...

It's complete rubbish. If you let me know where you live, I can arrange to relieve you of it and offer in exchange a nice wee local pinot from the Hunter Valley.

Cheers
mark

[Cloth Ears]

I told you I wasn't much up on French wines - I got the 'name' slightly wrong. It's "Clos des Chenes" instead of "Les Caillerets". Looks like it's still a Pinot (from doing a bit of searching) and also that it's probably well worthy keeping it closed for a few more years - unless Mrs CE and I wish to tussle with a few tannins.

That's a Pinot noir from a premier cru vineyard ( Lafarge is a well respected producer in Burgundy) and I would think it would be approx worth $100. Probably a good idea to drink it sooner rather than put it away.

2005 was a brilliant year for red Burgundy in general, depending on how it was cellared prior to you getting it I don't think you should be in any huge hurry to drink this. There are a lot of later vintages I would drink well before the 2005s.

That said, I guess it just depends on just how young/old you like your Pinot?

Cellartracker is your friend - reviews there seem to suggest there is no hurry either:

http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1383295

I found the Cellartracker for this wine here: http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=313544, thanks n4sir!

Lafarge is known for slow maturing wines. If possible I would bury it for up to a decade. 2005 is also a well structured year resulting in wines (generally) that evolve more slowly than in other years.

This sounds like the consensus.

Looks like that person who gave you that likes you very much.

Jancis Robinson said in part 18.5 (very high for her) Drink 2016-28. Great stuff.

intense and brooding on the nose. Top note of spice, extremely fine tannins underneath. Very classy with a chalky finish.

Was given to me by a gentleman called Ross who does not drink wine (so re-gifted). We will definitely be toasting him when we broach it.

It's complete rubbish. If you let me know where you live, I can arrange to relieve you of it and offer in exchange a nice wee local pinot from the Hunter Valley.

Cheers
mark

While I appreciate your offer, I didn't know they grew Pinot in the Hunter. I've got some Semillons and some "Dry whites", but I don't think I have a single Hunter red in my cellar.

[n4sir]

I told you I wasn't much up on French wines - I got the 'name' slightly wrong. It's "Clos des Chenes" instead of "Les Caillerets". Looks like it's still a Pinot (from doing a bit of searching) and also that it's probably well worthy keeping it closed for a few more years - unless Mrs CE and I wish to tussle with a few tannins.

I found the Cellartracker for this wine here: http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=313544, thanks n4sir!

What you have basically is a wine from the same Producer, same region/village (Volnay located in Burgundy), same varietal (whenever you look at a decent red Burgundy chances are it will almost certainly be Pinot Noir), but a different vineyard of the same Premier Cru quailty (Clos des Chenes instead of Les Caillerets, both 1er Cru standard). If you want an example of a local equivalent, think of two of Wynns' Coonawarra Estate single vineyard wines like the 2010 Alex 88 and Messenger.

The Burgundy report is a great free resource website, and these maps give you an idea of the proximity of the vineyards in the different villages - in the Volnay map you can see the Clos des Chenes vineyards at the top left of the purple 1er Cru vineyards, the smaller En Cailleret vineyard below it. If you decide to dip more into Burgundy it is a great way of doing a little research.

https://www.burgundy-report.com/discove ... -resource/
https://www.burgundy-report.com/wp/wp-c ... volnay.pdf

Cheers,
Ian

[Cloth Ears]

What you have basically is a wine from the same Producer, same region/village (Volnay located in Burgundy), same varietal (whenever you look at a decent red Burgundy chances are it will almost certainly be Pinot Noir), but a different vineyard of the same Premier Cru quailty (Clos des Chenes instead of Les Caillerets, both 1er Cru standard). If you want an example of a local equivalent, think of two of Wynns' Coonawarra Estate single vineyard wines like the 2010 Alex 88 and Messenger.

The Burgundy report is a great free resource website, and these maps give you an idea of the proximity of the vineyards in the different villages - in the Volnay map you can see the Clos des Chenes vineyards at the top left of the purple 1er Cru vineyards, the smaller En Cailleret vineyard below it. If you decide to dip more into Burgundy it is a great way of doing a little research.

https://www.burgundy-report.com/discove ... -resource/
https://www.burgundy-report.com/wp/wp-c ... volnay.pdf

Cheers,
Ian

Thanks, Ian.

I also found this map (https://burgmap.com/regions/volnay/cailleret-dessus) which makes it even more confusing. There appears to be a very small vineyard called Les Caillerets (in green on the map - which they don't explain). From zooming in on this map it appears that the various producers have small sections of vineyard in quite a number of the different vineyards - something not done in Australia (as far as I know).

[n4sir]

Thanks, Ian.

I also found this map (https://burgmap.com/regions/volnay/cailleret-dessus) which makes it even more confusing. There appears to be a very small vineyard called Les Caillerets (in green on the map - which they don't explain). From zooming in on this map it appears that the various producers have small sections of vineyard in quite a number of the different vineyards - something not done in Australia (as far as I know).

Yes you will find quite a bit of that in Burgundy - sometimes a number of different producers have access to certain rows/parts of esteemed vineyards.